Mayor and Councilmembers:

This is the weekly report for the week ending February 25th, 2011.

• Meeting Notes

 

The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 1st, beginning with a Closed Session at 5:00 PM, and with the regular agenda scheduled for 6:30 PM.

• Richmond Recovery Solar Rebate Program Stakeholder Meeting

 

The Environmental Initiatives Division of the City Manager’s Office is holding a community input meeting on Monday, February 28th, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM to design a residential solar rebate program called the Richmond Recovery Rebate.  The City would like to receive input for determining the rebate amounts, local employment details, and the best ways to inform residents and promote the program.  This presents a tremendous opportunity for Richmond residents to finance the cost of solar with the City’s help.  If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free to call (510) 620-5594.

• World Series Trophy Comes to Richmond

 

This past Wednesday, the trophy earned by the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants made a stop in the City of Richmond Auditorium lobby, allowing local fans to get a first hand view.  Local photographer Ellen Gailing preserved a moment during this occasion with the following photograph, featuring (left to right) Councilmember Nat Bates, former Giant (and Richmond native) Mike Felder, Councilmember Corky Booze, the City Manager, and Vice-Mayor Tom Butt.  It was noted that, in addition to their remarkable accomplishments on the field, the San Francisco Giants, through their Junior Giants program, has provided the Richmond community with a great baseball diamond at Nicholl Park.

Thank you to the Giants, both for the memories, and for their support of the Richmond community.

 

• Assemblymember Skinner Honors Myrtle Braxton-Ellington as Woman of the Year

Assemblymember Nancy Skinner has selected Ms. Myrtle Braxton-Ellington, of the Richmond Commission on Aging, as Woman of the Year, Overall District Winner, representing Assembly District 14 for 2011.  Ms. Braxton-Ellington, along with 13 other women, will be honored at the Women of the Year Dinner on Thursday, March 3rd, at the Mira Vista Country Club in El Cerrito from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

• City of Richmond Receives Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

 

The City of Richmond has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the current fiscal year from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).  This is the third year the Finance Department has received this prestigious award which is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting.

In order to receive the award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation and be rated “proficient” in all categories.  These guidelines are designed to assess how well the entity’s budget serves as a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, and, a communications device.

Congratulations to Andrea Miller, Budget Administrator, and all budget staff, including Connie Valentine, Markisha Guillory, Bert Jones, and Vrenesia Ward, who will have little time to rest on their laurels as they are now entering their “busy season.”

• 3rd  Quarter Sales Tax Results

 

Finance staff met with consultant Jerry Peeler of MuniServices (the City’s sales tax analysts) to review sales tax figures for the 3rd quarter of 2010. The City of Richmond saw a 0.2% decrease in Sales Tax cash receipts for the 3rd quarter of 2010 compared to the 3rd quarter of 2009. It appears that the low point in sales tax was the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2009.  Most indicators show that we have leveled off. Our economic categories are well diversified with the tax base is headed by general retail which made up 38.1% of the sales tax revenue.  Of significance, the Energy Sales segment of the Business to Business category decreased substantially during this quarter.  The Finance Department will continue to closely monitor the actual revenue submitted by the State Board of Equalization, the local trends we see developing in Richmond and the projections provided by MuniServices.

 

• 11th Annual City of Richmond Employees Black History Luncheon

The 11th Annual Black History Luncheon for City of Richmond employees was held today in the Richmond auditorium lobby.  The two luncheon themes were “Honoring our Local Trailblazers” and “Securing a Healthy Community.”  The local trailblazers that were honored were Ted Smith, represented by his widow Carolyn Smith, and Vernon Whitmore, of the Globe Newspaper Group. Attendees were treated with a keynote address on community health by Gloria Bailey-Ray.

Thanks to all of those who worked to make this luncheon possible, including Black History Committee members Janet Johnson, Jim Goins, Theresa Austin, Charlotte Dennis, Vrenesia Ward, assisted by Trailblazer Coordinators Rodney Ferguson, Cecily McMahan, and Virgil Weekes.

• RichmondBUILD Health Fair

 

As part of the Healthy RichmondBUILD Initiative, Employment & Training staff will be holding a Health Fair on March 4th, from 8:00 AM to noon for the 80 students participating in the various training programs of the RichmondBUILD Academy including the YouthBUILD program.  The purpose of the Healthy RichmondBUILD initiative is to help build a healthy community through educating and empowering RichmondBUILD Academy students to make better choices about their health, nutrition, and life styles.  Each student will receive a medical examination including blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol testing along with a Body Mass Index (BMI) test.  In addition, students will participate in nutrition classes taught by Dr. Mack from Brookside Community Health Clinic and attend healthy cooking demonstrations provided by Farahnaz Toloui, Registered Nurse from Kaiser, and Robert Dorsey, Executive Chef from the Blue Oak Café at the Oakland Museum of California.

The Healthy RichmondBUILD initiative was developed by staff from the Employment & Training Department and representatives from Bay Area Green Tours, Brookside Community Health Clinic, Contra Costa College, County Healthy Department, Eco-Village, HEAL, Gardner’s Guild, LEAP, Opportunity West, Network for Healthy CA Worksites, Weigh of Life, the Mayor’s Office, and Councilmember Dr. Jeff Ritterman.

The Health Fair will be held at the RichmondBUILD facility located at 360 So. 27th Street.

• Recreation Highlights

 

• Black History Celebration:  The Recreation Department is hosting the annual City-wide Black History Celebration on Saturday, February 26th, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM, at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium.  Participants will enjoy singing, spoken word performances, dancing from youth and senior citizen classes, a fashion show celebrating black history, a display of black inventors, a black history of Richmond display, a presentation honoring both Richmond seniors and young adults who have contributed positively to the Richmond Community, and dinner, which will be served from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM.  Tickets are $7 per person.

• Winter Break Snow Trip:  The Youth Activities Section escorted 29 youth (ages 9 to 17) to Boreal Snow and Ski Resort in Truckee, on Thursday, February 24th.  The participants enjoyed a day full of tubing and fun in the snow. 

 

• Engineering Services Capital Improvement Project Updates

• Roosevelt & McLaughlin Sewer Pipe Rehabilitation Project:  The work on San Pablo Avenue in this area has been infill work and trench paving.  The replacement of curbs in the medians has been formed, but concrete was not poured due to the rainy weather.  Trenching for the last section of the new sewer main from Barrett Avenue to Caltrans right-of-way at Roosevelt Avenue is scheduled for Monday, February, 28th, during daylight hours (for safety) with pipe placement taking place after the evening commute hours to minimize traffic delays.

 

• May Valley & Parkview Series Street Light Conversion:  The Engineering Services staff and Fehr & Peers Consultants made a presentation to the May Valley Neighborhood Council on Thursday, February 24th, on the preliminary design to convert the series street light system to an LED parallel system.  Approximately 20 members of the community provided positive feedback.  A similar presentation is planned for the Parkview Neighborhood Council on Tuesday, March 15th.

• Public Works Updates

 

• Facilities Maintenance employees continued preparations for the Art Center’s 75th Anniversary.  They have also completed painting and “touch-ups” for the next community event at the Nevin Center.

• The electricians have been performing street light repairs over the last two weekends.  They have repaired approximately 30 street lights in the Carriage Hills, Fairmede, Marina Bay and May Valley areas. Weekend light repairs will continue on the weekends, weather permitting.

 

• Paving crews will perform dig outs (weather permitting) on Bonita Court from Bonita Road to the end of the Nicholl Park picnic area.  Next week, crews will begin repaving 15th Street from Chanslor Avenue to Macdonald. Crews are also on “storm patrol,” for the upcoming storms.

• The Parks Division will conduct landscape pruning along McGlaughlin soundwall, enhance the drainage on the pathway near Perry School, and complete the fertilizing of the sports fields at various parks.  The tree trimming crew will continue trimming trees.

 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments about these or any other items of interest to you.

Have a great week!

 

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Bill Lindsay
City Manager
City of Richmond
450 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, California 94804-1630
Phone:  510-620-6512
Fax:  510-620-6542
E-mail:  bill_lindsay@ci.richmond.ca.us